


Ten Times the Wrong Leonard Snart Kissed Him (And One Time the Right One Did)

by RetroactiveCon



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Doppelganger, M/M, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:08:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24044908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: Leo nods. “So that’s what it is. I remind you of someone you lost.” He shakes his head. “I can’t give you your Len back, darling boy. But if you’ll permit me, I can give you this.”The hand that cradles Barry’s cheek is unspeakably gentle. He has plenty of time to move back, but that’s the last thing he wants. Instead, he allows Leo to kiss him slowly and oh-so-sweetly.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart
Comments: 70
Kudos: 253





	1. Leo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheRedHarlequin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedHarlequin/gifts).



> Here's the promised sequel to [Ten Times the Wrong Barry Kissed Him](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/56573320), wherein Len is kissed by ten doppel-Barrys before getting home to his. This is what happens to Barry while Len is being kissed by his doppelgangers. Some of the Len doppelgangers will match the Barrys from the first story (those will have links to their respective Barry's chapter); others are completely random. I hope you enjoy!

“Thank you for your help.”

Despite the time they’ve spent together, Barry still feels skittish and out of place around Leo. Len’s disappearance is still too fresh not to hurt; being around his doppelgänger brings too many confusing feelings too close to the surface. “Oh, I…it’s nothing. I mean, wouldn’t everyone punch a Nazi given the choice?” 

Leo gives him a rueful smile. “My world suggests otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, there are Resistance fighters, but we’re scattered and tired. Having someone new join the fight—especially someone with powers as impressive as yours…” He glances Barry up and down. Unbidden, blood rushes to Barry’s cheeks. Len used to look at him like that, like his powers were the most fascinating thing in the world. “It’s much appreciated.” 

“If I can be honest?” Barry glances over his shoulder. Cisco is still talking with his doppelgänger, who looks at him with a mixture of worry and envy; Jax is catching Ray up on Stein, who's shaken but on his way to recovery. Alex and Sara are with General Schott, who looks like he’s barely holding onto his composure. He has a moment before they’ll have to go; there’s no reason not to be honest with Leo. “It was kind of a relief to get away from the problems on my earth and help out with yours instead.” 

Leo inclines his head. His expression is more openly fond than Len’s ever was; it makes Barry’s heart ache in a way that feels partly like regret and partly like envy. “I can understand that, but while I’m grateful for your help, don’t use it as an excuse to run from your feelings.” He taps a finger against Barry’s chest. “Your heart is big enough to want to take everyone else’s problems, but don’t let that be at the expense of dealing with your own.” 

Against his better judgment, Barry gives a little laugh. “You know, I wish my Len had a little of your emotional intelligence. Maybe then he wouldn’t have…” He trails away. Wouldn’t have what—left? Sacrificed himself? Taken Barry’s heart with him without saying a proper goodbye? 

“Ah.” Leo nods. “So that’s what it is. I remind you of someone you lost.” He shakes his head. “I can’t give you your Len back, darling boy. But if you’ll permit me, I can give you this.” 

The hand that cradles Barry’s cheek is unspeakably gentle. He has plenty of time to move back, but that’s the last thing he wants. Instead, he allows Leo to kiss him slowly and oh-so-sweetly. 

“Won’t Ray be upset?” he asks when they part. 

Leo grins. “Oh, sweet boy. If he wasn’t so eager to check up on your friends, he would be willing to kiss you right along with me. Well,” he amends, “maybe not with an audience. But the sentiment is there.” 

Barry glances over his shoulder once again. Ray is okay with Leo kissing him? He could be getting kissed by both of them? “Um. Am I a bad person if I ask to maybe take you up on that sometime that isn’t now?” 

Leo’s laugh warms him to his core. “No, darling boy. We’d be happy to have you. But for now, I ought to let you go—I think your universe needs you back.” 

“Yeah.” As Barry watches, Cisco pets his doppelgänger’s hair, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and starts herding the others toward Barry. Any second now, he’s going to be breached back to Earth-1. “Um…thank you for that.” 

Leo pets his cheek. “Take care of yourself, darling boy. I hope to see you again soon.” 

When Barry wanders over to Cisco, he’s greeted with a raised eyebrow. “So I see I’m not the only one getting a little friendly with doppelgängers. Is it weirder when I’m giving me platonic kisses or when you’re giving decidedly _not_ platonic kisses to your dead frenemy’s doppelgänger?” 

Barry doesn’t have a good answer for that. “Shut up.”

“I see it’s time to revisit Cisco’s Guide to Doppelfucking.” This is said under his breath, in a tone that makes Barry think it’s a joke. (He hopes it’s a joke. The Guide to Doppelfucking was bad enough the first time—he doesn’t think he could withstand an encore.) 

“Can we please go home now?” 

Sara raises her eyebrows and drawls, “I wanna hear about the Guide to Doppelfucking.”

“Is this really the time?” Alex demands, throwing out exasperated hands to indicate the resistance base. Sara looks suitably chastened. Cisco shrugs and holds out his arm. 

“Okay. Let’s go home.”


	2. Barista Len

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barista-but-also-criminal Len is based on [this](https://hottest-part-of-the-flame.tumblr.com/post/188745232385/okay-but-imagine) excellent post.

The next time Barry ventures to an alternate universe, he’s running laps in the Speed Lab to clear his mind. It takes a lot of speed to break the dimensional barrier—more than it takes to run through time—but it’s worth it. If he can just get fast enough (he can visit Leo, take him and Ray up on their offer) that speed might make the difference between success and failure in his next fight…

When he stops, he isn’t on Earth-X. He’s in an alley that looks pretty much like any alley in Central City, but it’s not—he remembers entering the between-space to access another dimension. He might as well look around; it’s not like he’s in any particular hurry to get back. 

Upon stepping out of the alley, the first thing he sees is a café. Instantly, his stomach snarls. He can never pass up the opportunity to snack, but after breaking the dimensional barrier, he’s ready to buy every pastry the café has to offer. 

Upon opening the door, he stops and stares. That’s Len behind the counter in an ice-blue shirt and black apron. The moment he sees Barry, his face breaks into a broad, teasing grin. 

“Barry Allen.” In every universe, that drawl sends all-too-welcome shivers down Barry’s spine. This is bad—it’s one thing to be affectionate with Leo, since he knows him well enough to like him for who he is, but getting flustered by a Leonard Snart he doesn’t even know? That feels like cheapening Len’s memory. “The usual, I suppose?” 

“Uh.” Barry steps closer to the counter. He ought to order or retreat. Certainly he shouldn’t stand there gawking at barista-Len’s playful smile. 

“No.” Barista-Len shakes his head. “Let’s change things up a bit. I know you usually like it hot, but in the spirit of last night, how about I get you an iced Flash?”

The…what? Barry re-evaluates. Barista-Len’s eyes are twinkling the way his Len’s used to whenever he thought he’d made a particularly good pun. This—oh, God. He’s still the Flash in this universe, and barista-Len isn’t just a barista, is he? 

“You’re terrible,” he hisses. 

“Funny.” Len punches something into the computer. “I didn’t hear you complaining last night, when I stole a kiss along with everything else.” His conspiratorial tone vanishes, and he’s all business when he says, “Cash or card?”

Barry isn’t about to chance an interdimensional credit-card fiasco. “Uh, cash. Hang on.” 

While he fumbles with his wallet, Len leans across the counter and murmurs, “You know, this little game of ours wouldn’t be half so fun if you weren’t so _responsive._ So if you want me to stop…” The look in his eyes tells Barry that he knows Barry (or his doppelgänger, wherever he is) doesn’t want to stop. “You should probably tone down that cute blush.” 

Barry thrusts a wad of cash at him. “Please take my money and shut up.” 

“Not what you said last night,” Len singsongs delightedly. “Well, not the ‘take my money’ part, anyway.” 

Barry gets as far from the counter as possible while waiting for his coffee. As he does, he surveys the café. Linda’s doppelgänger is in the corner with this universe’s Wally, Hartley, and Captain Singh. Jesse Wells’ doppelgänger is cuddled with Eliza Harmon sharing bites of a gooey cinnamon roll. Mick Rory is slouched in a booth, black plastic glasses on his nose, typing vigorously on a battered computer. All of them look happy. With a pang of regret, he wonders if this universe wasn’t as badly affected by its particle accelerator explosion as his. 

“One iced Flash to go.” Len’s drawl summons him back to the counter. When Barry steps up to take his drink, Len hooks a finger in the collar of his shirt and pulls him closer. “You know, you still haven’t complained about this particular kind of thieving.” 

Before Barry can protest, warm lips press against his. He freezes. Oh no, he’s letting this Len kiss the wrong Barry. Everyone lectured him for the time he let Earth-2 Iris kiss him because she didn’t know who she was actually kissing, and now he’s doing the same thing to Len, and oh no he needs to leave…

“Enjoy your coffee,” Len says, every bit as playfully smug as he was before the kiss. 

Barry waits until he’s outside the coffee shop to take off running again. He considers throwing the coffee away—he took it by deceit, the same way he let Len kiss him—but that would be wasteful. After all, he needs some kind of energy if he’s going to get safely home.


	3. Sex Shop Len

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Len who goes with [candy shop Barry](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/57216445). (It all works out well for them - he goes to tell Barry and is greeted with a kiss, because candy-shop Barry got his practice kiss with our Len.)

When next Barry has some alone time in the Speed Lab, he breaks the dimensional barrier and runs without a destination in mind. Wherever he ends up will be a good escape from the expectations weighing him down. 

He skids to a stop in the snug confines of a little shop. Upon looking around, his attention is split between two things: a shocking abundance of leather and this universe’s Leonard Snart behind the counter. The two observations meld into one frighteningly explicit mental image that Barry will never be able to un-think. 

“Ohhh.” He rubs his fists against his eyes, trying in vain to chase away the mental image. “Oh no, bad brain.” 

Len glances up from his phone and almost falls off his chair. “Barry! I didn’t hear you come in—aren’t you supposed to be at work?” 

Barry turns an astonished circle, staring at the racks of floggers and paddles, the neat rows of handcuffs, and the selection of different-colored rope. He needs to not be thinking of what this Len may or may not have done with his doppelgänger, although judging by Len’s bizarrely nervous look, the answer is probably ‘not a lot.’ “It’s kind of a long story? I’m not your Barry, I’m.” He could lie and say ‘his twin,’ but if Len brings that up with this universe’s Barry, things will get awkward fast. Anyway, Len in any universe has the same brilliant, methodical mind as his Len. He’ll understand without trouble. “I’m maybe kinda from a parallel universe. So I’m Barry, but not, y’know. Your Barry. He’s probably still at work, which is where?”

Len’s eyebrows ascend his forehead. “A parallel universe?” he asks in shock. “Like—you mean a universe where things are different. Where…” His eyes fall on Barry’s sweatshirt. “Ah. Where STAR Labs wasn’t shut down. That’s how you got here.” 

“What happened to your STAR Labs?” Barry asks, then realizes he’s focusing on the wrong thing. “And what am I like in this universe? Where do I work? CCPD?”

Len snorts. “Hardly! You work at Sweet Justice—it’s a candy shop,” he explains when Barry looks blank. “Two blocks down the street.”

“Then why wouldn’t I come visit you after work?” Barry glances around. If this universe’s Barry is anything like him, he’d get distracted in here for hours. Maybe he doesn’t want the distraction?

Len glances down at the floor. He looks bizarrely, suspiciously guilty. “You don’t know where I work,” he confesses. “I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Scare me?” Barry steps around a shelf full of condoms and lube to look at a basket of plush STD microbes. He’s bizarrely tempted to get one for Caitlin—she would grumble about its inaccuracy and wonder why he got her an STD, but she would think it’s cute. “Why would I be scared?” 

Len picks at his nails. “You’re little and sweet,” he mumbles. “I’m terrified you’d come in here, see all of this, be overwhelmed and never want to see me again.” 

Barry resists the urge to roll his eyes. Why does everyone assume he’s naïve? “You know, my Len kinda did that to me too.”

That gets Len’s attention. He looks up, wide-eyed, with such hope in his expression that Barry has to continue. 

“Yeah, for some reason he assumed I was naïve and easy to scare off, and I wasn’t. He learned that the hard way.” If he’d learned it quicker, they might have been able to put a name to their…whatever they were…before Len left. Maybe then he’d have had a reason to stay. “And if this version of me is anything like me, he’d get just as frustrated with you for thinking that as I did with my Len. Don’t assume how he’ll react. Tell him, and give him a chance to show you. I doubt you’ll scare him away.” 

Len considers. Barry wanders closer, staring at everything on his way. “I suppose you’re right,” Len admits. With a rueful laugh, he adds, “I have to give that talk to customers sometimes, about challenging assumptions. I guess it’s different when it’s my own assumptions.” 

Barry nods. He’s done that, too—given advice that he couldn’t follow. “It’s harder to take your own advice than to give it. But I trust you to do right by alternate-me.”

Len reaches over the counter like he wants to touch him but draws up short. “I…may I touch you?” 

Barry nods. Against his better judgment, he leans across the counter and gives Len a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Good luck,” he says. 

“You’re going.” It’s not a question. Barry offers a rueful smile in return. 

“They’ll miss me if I’m gone too long. But hey, if I get to play matchmaker for you and my alternate self, it wasn’t a complete waste of time.”

“Well, thank you for that.” Len rubs a hand along his shoulder. “Be safe, however it is you hop between universes.” A little smile breaks across his face. “Alternate universes. The universe really is queerer than we can suppose.” 

It’s Barry’s turn to grin. “And you’re a secret nerd in every universe. Don’t worry—alternate-me is going to love you.” 

Because he can’t resist showing off a little, he runs out of the shop at superspeed. Len was awed by the concept of alternate universes—Barry hopes seeing a speedster is just as much of a pleasant surprise.


	4. Mob Boss Len

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Len who, moments after kissing Barry, walks in on Len kissing [stripper Barry](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/57237595). After that, both he and his Barry are able to more-or-less make sense of what Barry says about alternate universes.

Barry wants Leo. It’s been a terrible day and he’s on the verge of breaking down. He wants Leo to just hold him and tell him it’s okay, even if it isn’t, even if he’s been terrible. 

When he skids to a stop, he’s not on Earth-X. He’s in a dimly lit, wood-paneled room. His arrival has been mostly hidden by shadows, but as he looks around, he sees he’s not the only one taking advantage of the dimness: a man in a leather jacket stands facing a dark corner. Barry can only just make out the hint of a figure in the shadows, but that doesn’t make him any less sure it’s a version of Len. 

“Well, you know what they say,” the figure in the corner drawls. Barry thinks he sees a glint of metal. “If you’re out, you’re out.” 

“Len!” Barry bursts out. He bites down on his lower lip. He shouldn’t have spoken, but it’s too late to do anything other than regret his rashness. 

The figure in the corner shifts. “Get out of my sight,” he says coldly to the man in the leather jacket. Obediently, the man scrambles out of the room. When the door shuts with a click, Len gets to his feet. Barry temporarily forgets how to breathe. This version of Len is in a suit—perfectly tailored, crisp and unrumpled. He looks stunning and deadly and perfectly in charge. “Scarlet.” 

Barry relaxes. This version of him must also be the Flash. Maybe this is a world where, after his takeover of the Santinis, Len leaned more into his new mob boss role. “Len, I…”

“You know better than to disturb me at work.” Len crosses the room and gathers Barry into his arms. Despite the chiding words, his tone is gentle. Wait, mob boss Len who’s apparently taken Barry as his partner? No, no, no, this world doesn’t make sense… “And what are you wearing, pretty boy? Are you already done with your set?” 

“I, um…I got lost.” Barry doesn’t understand what Len means. He ought to tell him the truth and run, but his head hurts and he doesn’t want to have to explain. 

“You did,” Len agrees. His hand cradles Barry’s cheek. “But you’re here now, baby boy.”

Barry doesn’t have the strength left to resist Len’s kiss. It’s deep and hot and thorough, and maybe it would be okay if he just stayed and let himself be kissed for another minute…

“Oh!” Len’s hand slips to his ass and squeezes. He jolts away, all the reasons he mustn’t go any further suddenly fresh in his mind. “No, I-I don’t just mean I got lost like I took a wrong turn, I mean I got lost like I’m from another Earth. I’m still Barry, but I’m like a parallel version of him who’s, um, not dating a mobster.”

“Baby boy, I'm not in the mood for games.” Len’s hand drops to Barry’s throat. His hold is light, more possessive than threatening, but it makes Barry flinch away. “If you’re too tired, you can just say so.”

Barry is tired. He’s so, so tired, too much so to argue. Len is a brilliant man, and given enough time, he’ll probably figure out something close to the correct answer. He really, really doesn’t have the strength to explain. “I can’t stay!” 

He takes off running. When he skids to a stop in the Speed Lab, he drops down against the wall, pulls his knees to his chest and starts to cry. Today has been too much day. He’ll be ready to handle it again soon, but right now he just needs to cry.


	5. Meta Criminal Len (+Time Remnant Barry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's Len is from the possible future that our Len glimpses in the [time remnant Barry](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/57243406) chapter. By this point, the time remnant has taken our Len's advice to join the Rogues, and when meta-Len starts kissing our Barry, the time remnant joins in. (That said, if doppelcest-kissing isn't your thing, you might want to skip to the next chapter.)

The next time, it isn’t space that bends around him; it’s time. He doesn’t realize in time to turn back, but once he stops, he considers whipping around and running back immediately. He’s fucked with time enough. He can’t possibly fuck with it again. 

“Ah-ah-ah, Flash.” He knows that drawl. Before he can whip around in shock—there’s a future where Len comes back to him?—ice encases his legs, making it impossible to move. “You know how I feel about pretty little heroes encroaching on my territory.” 

“Len?” Barry twists as far around as he can. Len saunters to his side. He has the same easy walk, same playful smirk, but a new outfit: a vest that bares powerful arms that glow faintly blue. “You’re a meta?” 

Len smirks. “I think your memory’s starting to fade in your old age, Flash. I’ve been a meta since I got back from that damned Oculus explosion. Helped you out a bit with your armored speedster trouble not that long ago, remember?” 

No, no he doesn’t, but the longer he can pretend he’s the Flash from this timeline, the less he’ll damage it. “So why are you back to thievery?”

“The challenge,” Len drawls. His eyes light up delightedly. He always loved playing this game, Barry thinks—the chase, the catch, the taunting. “Not to mention, a new partner in crime who’s been a blast to play with.” 

There’s a burst of lightning so hot it burns white. Barry stares in shock at another version of him—scarred, blind in one eye, and dressed in an outfit that looks like he stole it directly out of Len’s closet, but definitely a version of him. 

“What happens to me?” he breathes quietly.

“You’re from the past,” the other Barry says. He sounds shocked, almost…reverent. To Len, he says, “He has no idea what happens. He’s just faking it, trying not to alter the timeline.”

“Too late.” Len presses against his side. “You’re here. You’ve seen this. And as tempting as it is to keep you here…” He runs his hand up Barry’s torso. His palm feels like ice through Barry’s clothes. “I can’t risk erasing my little Scarlet from history.”

The other Barry runs closer and nuzzles, not just against Len, but against both of them. Barry’s heart does something funny. Okay, there was the time he may or may not have made out with his Earth-2 doppelgänger, but that was just curiosity (and the fact that his Earth-2 self is adorable). He’s not going to kiss a criminal version of himself who’s clearly happy with Len.

That thought sputters and dies when both of them lean in and kiss him. Len claims his mouth, kissing him deep and tauntingly slow. His…future criminal self? Is that right?. . .nuzzles the tender spot behind his ear and kisses it repeatedly. 

“That’s not fa- _air_!” Barry mumbles breathlessly. “Using my own weaknesses against me.”

“You love it,” Len whispers. His trails down to the ice encasing Barry’s thigh. The next minute, it’s gone. Barry stumbles forward into their arms and, for a moment, wonders if he really has to go. 

“Uh.” Time kerfuckery. He really needs to not do what he’s aching to do. “I should, uh. Go. And try not to fuck up the timeline.”

“Be safe,” Len urges. 

Despite the warning, Barry almost runs into a wall when he returns to STAR Labs. Oh heck. What has to happen for _that_ future to come about? (And, he can’t help wondering, what was it like for his future self on the other side of those kisses?) 

Nope. Clearly it's time to revisit Cisco’s Guide to Doppelfucking and not think about time- or universe-traveling again.


	6. Faery Len

Barry lasts two weeks before dimension-traveling again. This time, it’s at Cisco’s request—something about an ingredient Wells the Grey needs that’s rare on his Earth but abundant on theirs. It turns out to be plain old paprika, about which Barry decides not to ask. 

“So I go, I give him the paprika, and I leave?” he ascertains. “I don’t have to stop or talk to anyone else?” 

“My dude.” Cisco lays a hand on his shoulder. “If you’re considering getting intimate with that version of Snart, I’m happy to say I know nothing about him and I would like to keep it that way.”

“Duly noted.” In fact, Barry would like to do the opposite. As nice as getting kissed by alternate Lens seems in the moment, he can’t help loathing himself in the aftermath. If possible, he’d like to avoid a repeat of the depression spiral he fell into two weeks ago after seeing a potential future with Len alive and happy. 

Delivering the paprika to Wells the Grey is no trouble, except for the part where he attempts to give Barry a bag of what he calls “the finest weed in the multiverse” as payment. Barry doesn’t want to know how he knows that, and furthermore, he has no desire to cross between universes carrying drugs. Thankfully, Wells takes his refusal in stride, merely beaming and proclaiming, “More for me.”

Barry has just left Wells the Grey’s cave and is looking for an open space to run when someone grabs his wrist. Before he can pull away, he’s spun around and clasped tightly against a firm chest. 

“I should ask you if you’ve forgotten the wisdom of not treading in faery rings,” Len taunts, “but instead, _Scarlet,_ let me say I’m pleased for the visit.” 

“Faery rings?” Barry asks in confusion. When he looks down, he sees that he and Len are standing in the middle of a circle of mushrooms. “Those aren’t…” He glances at Len a second time. Now that he knows to look for them, he can spot all the little tells that this version of Len isn’t human: too-wide eyes, more iris than pupil; too-sharp, needle-like teeth; slightly pointed ears. Faery Len? Oh that just isn’t fair!

“Have you forgotten?” Len catches Barry’s wrists and holds his hands behind his back. Barry needs to run. Yep, he really needs to run, because he’s not completely oblivious to faery stories and he really can’t afford to be taken into the Otherworld right now… “We’ve played this game several times since you came to see me in the woods, and you like it.” 

“I’m, uh, I really can’t stay. I have to get home,” Barry fumbles. Now maybe isn’t the best time to bring up the alternate universes pitch—he doubts it would sway a faery intent on keeping him trapped. 

“Right,” Len coos. “I forgot. I mustn’t keep a good little human from his business when he has it, or he’ll never indulge me in his free time.” He leans closer and murmurs, “Just one kiss before you go?”

Barry shouldn’t—not only does it feel like betraying his Len, but he probably shouldn’t be kissing faeries. Len is so close, though, and Barry has sort of forgotten any reason he shouldn’t lean in and…

The kiss is a mistake. As soon as their lips meet, Barry forgets anything outside of the faery ring. He could stay here forever, kissing Len. It’s like being home, like this is the only place in the multiverse where he’s safe… 

A burst of multicolored magic breaks the kiss. Barry staggers back, trips over his own feet, and falls out of the faery ring. Instantly, he loses sight of Len. 

“Fool of a speedster!” Wells the Grey scolds. “You never kiss the fae! Now fly, you fool, before you come across anything else in this world you don’t understand!” 

Barry’s thoughts as he run flit between awe at the kiss (did Wells the Grey really have to interrupt them so soon?) and amusement at Cisco’s likely reaction when he tells him Wells the Grey uttered the words “Fly, you fool.” He won’t tell Cisco about the kiss, since Cisco said he didn’t want to know. The story will probably sound more amusing if Barry acts like Wells the Grey urged him on as soon as he left the cave. 

(Cisco finds out anyway.)


	7. Bounty Hunter Len

The next time, Cisco is, as he says, ‘just vibing’ when he receives a distress signal from another Cisco on an Earth they haven’t yet encountered. Rather than go himself, or bring the team, he asks Barry to go, do a bit of superspeed reconnaissance, and report back. 

“You think it could be a trap?” he asks. 

Cisco shudders. “After Reverb? Nah, I don’t trust any doppel-Ciscos right off the bat. Cisco-X was different, he’s punched Nazis, but the rest of them? No, I’m gonna double check everything they tell me.”

“And what exactly did he say?” Barry pulls up his cowl and readies himself to run. 

“That they’re being hunted.” Cisco pats his shoulder. “Be careful, okay?”

“I will,” Barry promises. Then he runs for the Earth Cisco indicated. 

Upon arriving, he immediately confirms this Cisco’s story. If it happens to be when a figure clad all in black slams into him and pins him to the ground, he’s had weirder things happen. 

“Len?” he gasps up at the man pinning him to the ground. 

“Aww.” This Earth’s Len gives him one of the faux-sympathetic smiles his Len favored him with sometimes when they fought. “That’s cute. I guess we’ve fought enough times to be on a first-name basis, haven’t we, _Flash_?” 

“You don’t know my first name,” Barry guesses. 

“Not for lack of trying.” Len shifts so he’s pinning both of Barry’s hands down with one of his. With his free hand, he pulls out a syringe. “I guess I can always run facial recognition while you nap.”

He’s sitting in such a position that it’s hard to throw him off, but not impossible. Barry rolls them over, seizes the syringe, and vibrates it to pieces. “You could hurt someone with that thing.”

“Why would I hurt you?” Barry can’t say he isn’t expecting Len to try to roll them over again; he just doesn’t expect him to succeed. “You’re much too valuable alive.”

“Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel special.” Barry pushes him off, bolts to his feet, and runs a few paces back. He should leave, but this is _fun._ It reminds him of play-fighting with his Len on heists. 

“What can I say?” Len rolls to his feet. “You’ve been the most annoying job I’ve ever tried to work.”

He's pretty sure his Len said something like that early on. It makes him as proud now as it did then. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” 

They spar. This isn’t like the play-fights Barry had with his Len; this is Len at the top of his game, and he doesn’t stop bringing the fight to Barry. Even with his speed, Barry is on the defensive more often than not. 

“You’re predictable.” Len slams him back to the ground. “Until you make it so I can’t anticipate your moves, Flash, I’ll win every time.” 

Without thinking, acting entirely on the instincts left over from his time sparring with his Len, Barry leans up and kisses him. “Anticipate, huh?” he murmurs against Len’s lips. 

While Len is still caught off-guard, Barry flips him onto his back, bolts to his feet, and takes off running. At least now he can tell Cisco that someone is indeed hunting them, and while he doesn’t know why or who hired him, he can at least report who’s leading the hunt.


	8. Professor Len

The next time is genuinely an accident. Barry is on his way home from a tussle with Axel, who for as dangerous as he is really just wants a playmate. He’s so wound up from their fight that he goes too fast, and the next thing he knows, he’s skidding down a school hallway. 

“Careful!” 

Barry finds himself snugged in a pair of firm, safe arms. More importantly, he’s face-to-face with a version of Len who’s staring at him with concern. 

“I respect your dedication to your studies, Mr. Allen.” Len sets him back on his feet. “But in the future, if you could refrain from testing the principles of physics in the hallway…”

“Sorry,” Barry mumbles. None-too-discreetly, he looks Len up and down. He’s in an ice-blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and crisp dark slacks. It’s among the nicest outfits Barry has seen him wear. How, out of all the possible universes, did he manage to find hot professor Len? 

Len holds out his arm, indicating a door to his right. “While you’re here, would you like to join me in my office, Mr. Allen?”

Barry’s stomach does an odd little flip. He’s vividly reminded of his college days, hopelessly crushing on some of his professors, haunting their office hours not with questions about class but with queries about their research. Is this version of him…no, he can’t be. Sleeping with his professor? Would either of them do that? 

Len beckons him into a cozy little office space, shuts the door with a remarkably final-sounding click, and draws Barry into a warm kiss. “Besides,” he coos, “I thought chemistry was more your forte than physics, sweetheart.” 

“Oh my God, I’m sleeping with a professor,” Barry mumbles. He has so many questions for his alternate-universe self, including ‘in what world was this an okay thing to do?’ and ‘how did he convince a man with a strict (if somewhat unusual) moral code to sleep with him?’. 

“Which is fine, as you well know, when you’re also a professor.” Len laughs and taps him on the nose. “You’re adorable.”

Barry breathes an audible sigh of relief. Okay. No position-of-power problems. Just him and his cute…nerdy…history boyfriend. (History, he decides, upon looking at the posters on Len’s walls. And maybe geology?)

“You know the students talk.” Len takes a seat behind his desk. Even in this universe, he doesn’t know how to sit in a chair; he leans it back and crosses one long leg over the other. “A chemistry professor so far from his department…a closed office door…”

“I’m really a chemistry professor?” Barry marvels. “Not physics?”

Len tilts his head. His brows draw together in concern. It’s the most openly worried Barry has seen him look, and it’s such a cute, soft expression that he wants to kiss him again. “Are you all right?”

“Um, about the physics thing…”

Barry perches in the hard-backed chair on the other side of the desk and explains the whole thing to him. By the end of his tale, Len’s eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging slightly open. 

“You’re from another universe,” he murmurs in shock. “Of course, there must be millions. Ripples upon ripples of possible outcomes, every universe that little bit different…” He glances toward the door. “I don’t suppose you would stay? My Barry would be ecstatic to meet you.”

Memories of his encounter with nerdy little Earth-2 Barry spring to the front of his mind. No, he doesn’t need to do that again. There’s scientific curiosity and then there’s the number of kisses he permitted Barry-2. “I-I shouldn’t. I have to go home.” 

“And I should let you.” Len gets to his feet. “The students call me garrulous, if you can believe it. If I don’t let you go now, I’ll keep you here another hour.”

Barry scrambles out of the hard-backed chair. “Um. And I’m sorry for letting you, uh, kiss me.”

“You were disoriented after running here, clearly.” Len opens the door. “And, for the sake of scientific curiosity, I can tell you my Barry doesn’t give me static shocks when I kiss him.”

“Yeah, uh, I get that a lot.” Barry rocks on the balls of his feet. “It’s been really nice meeting you.”

Len gives him a fond look that makes him feel caught between shivery happiness and aching regret. “Have a safe run home.” 

As Barry bolts down the hall, he hears Len murmur in awe, “Multiple universes. Superspeed. My colleagues will never believe me.”


	9. Nerd Len

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the little nerd Len who walked out on Len with [biker Barry and Iris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/57818086). He'll have a chance to explain alternate universes to them, to their collective amazement.

The next time, Barry tries to get back to Leo and Ray—not out of panic or the desire for reassurance, but because Cisco got word from his doppelgänger that they’re engaged and Barry wants to offer his congratulations in person. Instead, he ends up standing in the living room of a cute little apartment. He’s about to run away—he just inadvertently broke into the house of some unknown person on an alternate Earth—when he hears a soft, “Did you come in from the fire escape again?”

He turns to see an adorable, bashful Len peering at him through black-plastic-framed glasses. He has to refrain from cooing, because this Len’s demeanor seems so soft and shy that he wants to scoop him up. “Hi.” 

“Hi.” Len wanders over to him and gives him a sweet, close-mouthed kiss. Before Barry can process what’s happening, Len cuddles into his arms. Despite the fact that he’s as tall as Barry and slightly stockier, the way he holds himself makes him feel small and easy to hold. “Where’s Iris?” 

It’s such a quiet murmur against Barry’s shoulder that he almost doesn’t catch it. “Huh?”

“Usually when you sneak in, Iris is with you.” Len pulls back, his sweet face contorting into worry. “Is she hurt? Is that why you’re here?”

“No, no!” Barry might as well come clean. “No, I’m. Um. I’m not your Barry.”

Len pulls back to look at him in confusion. The longer he looks, the more the furrow in his brow smooths away into wide-eyed amazement. “You aren’t,” he murmurs. “Then who are you? And how did you get in here?”

“I’m Barry from an alternate universe.” He tilts his head with a gentle smile. This version of Len is too cute to startle. “In my universe, I’m a scientist, and I don’t sneak in fire escapes. You…you might sneak in a fire escape every once in a while.”

Len makes a soft, shocked sound and rubs his hand over Barry’s cheek. “You’re really from an alternate universe,” he murmurs. “And what am I, if I sneak in fire escapes? Not a structural engineer, I assume?”

“Uh, you’re maybe…kind of a thief.” Barry rocks slowly back and forth. Len rocks with him, which is sweet. “And Iris is a journalist. And, um…if she’s with…us? Are we an ‘us’ on this Earth?” 

Len tilts his head. “Are we not on your Earth?”

“Uh, it’s complicated.” Barry isn’t about to explain that he thought he and his Len were together, on the verge of a defined relationship, before his Len went off on a timeship and never came back. “But. Um. No, Iris isn’t with us on my Earth. She’s with a great guy, and my feelings about that used to be complicated too, but I have to respect her choice and that’s not complicated.” 

From outside, there’s the sound of a motorcycle slowing to a stop. Barry glances toward the window. “Wait…is that the other me? And Iris?”

Len nods. “Come to steal me away,” he admits with a shy smile. “I think they like making me misbehave now and again.”

“Wait.” Barry laughs at the mental image. No way is there a universe where his soft, sentimental self turned out tougher than Len. “In this universe, we’re bikers? And we somehow ended up with a cute little structural-engineer version of you?” 

Len blushes and awkwardly straightens his glasses. “I should go down before they come up the fire escape,” he murmurs. 

“Yeah, I should let you go.” Barry releases him and takes an exaggerated step back. “Um, it’s been really nice meeting you.”

Len wanders toward the door. “Alternate universes,” he murmurs. “My Barry and Iris will never believe me.” 

If Barry happens to speed past biker Iris and his biker self as he builds up speed to go home, well…he doesn’t feel he can be blamed for curiosity.


	10. Mayor Snart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is when [Earth-2 Barry](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/56573320) finally catches up with our Barry about the time Len appeared in his lab and kissed him.

The last time, he’s on Earth-2, checking up on Harry, Jesse, and the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Zoom. Mayor Snart, along with a handful of others critical to the rebuilding, has been told about the multiverse and Barry’s role in ending Zoom’s reign of terror. He happens to be at STAR Labs for the same reason Barry is, and they end up in the elevator together. 

“I realized I haven’t had the time to thank you for what you did for my world,” Mayor Snart says abruptly. 

“What?” Barry turns to him in surprise. He’s been awkward with the mayor in the past—when Len was still with him, talking too long with the mayor felt vaguely like cheating, and now seeing him just makes him sad. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be rude, though, when the mayor is so courteous. “Oh, um, you don’t have to. I mean, Zoom was a threat to my Earth as much as yours. I mean I thought of you, all of you, but it was…my friends were kinda the first thing in my mind.”

“And that’s to be expected,” Mayor Snart agrees. “Nonetheless, I’m immensely grateful. You spared my city from a menace, and on top of it all, you keep coming back to help us rebuild.” He holds out a hand. “That’s more than the action of a man with a common enemy. It speaks to your kind heart.”

Barry goes to bring a hand up to rub the back of his neck, realizes that’s the hand that he should use to clasp Mayor Snart’s, and ends up hopelessly flustered. He really is terrible at this whole people thing. “Uh, I, um, thank you.” 

He thinks he can’t possibly be more flustered. He’s quickly proven wrong when Mayor Snart brings his hand up and kisses his knuckles. 

“Aaiieeep!” Lightning races under Barry's skin. He's been kissed far more intensely by other Leonard Snarts, but for some reason the mayor's courteous kiss startles him more.

“I’m sorry.” Mayor Snart steps back. “I overstepped.”

“No, I, no, you were, um.” Barry flaps his hands and tries to remember how words work. “I, it’s complicated, but I didn’t mind?”

At this moment, the elevator doors open on a frazzled Barry-2, who bobs his head in an adorable ‘hello’ to Mayor Snart before seizing Barry by the hand and dragging him from the elevator. “I need to talk to you about, um, the mayor’s doppelgänger?”

“The Leonard Snart from my Earth is dead,” Barry says sadly. The words cut. Barry-2’s emphatic head-shaking makes it worse. 

“He’s not, though! He showed up my lab and he thought I was you and he kissed me and then he vanished again! I don’t know what happened, he was surrounded by this light, I thought maybe you would know.” 

Barry doesn’t, but for the first time in months, his heart swells with forgotten hope. “I don’t,” he murmurs, “but I know who might.”


	11. His Len

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Barry's view of [when they reunited](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579278/chapters/57852304), with a bonus bit about the two of them discussing doppel-kissing.

At Barry’s begging, the Legends confirm Len died in an explosion of time. For the first time since hearing of his death, Barry is ecstatic. Time is a force, just like Speed—Len might have been absorbed into it rather than killed.

Before he takes off running, Barry sends a quick plea—prayer, he supposes it would be—to the Speed Force. “If he’s there, let me find him. _Please_ let me bring him home. Let me keep the future intact.” He thinks of the possible future he saw—meta Len, back from the Oculus—and takes off running. 

He doesn’t know what it is that makes him stop running and leap into the dizzying rush of time around him. It isn’t that he sees Len, even though he hoped he would. It’s more of a feeling, a hope. He leaps and grabs and begs “Come back to me,” and the next thing he knows, he’s flopped on the floor of the Speed Lab with Len, _his_ Len, pinned and breathless underneath him. 

“Scarlet?” Len peers up at him with wide, awed eyes. He looks like Barry is the only thing he can see and the only thing he _wants_ to see. 

“Len.” Barry’s hands cradle his face. His skin is cooler than it should be, but Barry pays it no mind. He kisses him lightly on the mouth and then finds he can’t stop pressing kisses to every part of his beautiful face. He has to keep kissing him. He has to keep him grounded or he might slip back into the time stream. “You’re home. You’re home. I’ve got you, you’re home now.” 

“How—?” Barry doesn’t know. He can’t explain what happened in the time stream. He can only pull Len into a desperate kiss. Judging by the way Len grabs back, all greedy eager hands, he wants Barry to anchor him in the present as much as Barry wants to do so. 

Barry draws back just far enough to meet Len’s eyes. As soon as the kisses stop, he strokes his cheek, desperate to know that they’re still touching. “I was over on Earth-2 yesterday checking on Harry and Jesse, and Earth-2 me found me and said something about the mayor’s doppelgänger in the time stream. I had to check with the Legends because they barely told me any details about your death, but once they told me about the Oculus I knew it had to be you and I thought maybe I could get you back and I did and you’re not going to vanish, are you?” Earth-2 Barry had been very insistent that Len wasn’t there longer than a few minutes. That time limit is fast approaching, and if Barry loses him again, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. “Am I going to lose you again?” 

“We’ll know soon,” Len murmurs. His voice is even, but his eyes are terrified. “If I’m going to vanish, it usually happens within a few minutes.”

Barry wraps his arms around him. He can hold him here. He has to, if there’s any kind of future where Len is here. “I’ll come back for you,” he promises. “I’m going to keep coming back until I find a way to get you out permanently.”

They wait. Barry is fairly certain there’s a moment where Len’s breathing catches, but nothing happens. He doesn’t fade away or feel any less substantial. 

“I think you can let go, Scarlet,” Len prompts gently. His voice wavers with relief. 

Barry makes a little happy noise that catches in his throat like a sob. “Yeah,” he agrees, “but I don’t want to.” 

“I don’t want you to either.” Len’s hand cups his cheek. Then they’re kissing again, deeply, thoroughly, urgently despite their confidence that Len is back to stay. Barry presses closer until there’s no space left between their bodies. He’s still cold, but Barry isn’t worried. He might have been, without a glimpse of Len’s future meta powers. For now, discovering those powers can wait. He has to stay with Len. 

“Don’t let me slip away,” he murmurs against Barry’s lips. 

Barry shakes his head. “Never.” 

It takes some time, but once they’re home and feeling safe, Barry shyly opens up about kissing other Lens. To his amazement, rather than be jealous, Len just laughs and recounts his tales of being kissed by other Barrys. He’s a little more reserved when Barry mentions Leo, perhaps sensing genuine feelings there, but after some debate, he agrees to meet with him and see what sort of arrangement they can reach. 

“Nothing could ever replace you,” Barry promises, before Len can worry. “That’s why I’m so ecstatic to have you home.” 

“Back at you.” Len tightens his arm around Barry’s waist. “That’s why I’m so glad to be home.”

“To stay.” Barry whispers the words against Len’s temple. They feel so critical that he finds himself repeating them over and over, a mantra for himself as much as Len. “To stay.”


End file.
